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Celebrity authors share their second art

By Katie Meschke

April 22, 2010 9:15 p.m.

Whether they are actors, political activists or even the second man to walk on the moon, stars of all sorts have found the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books to be the perfect place to extend their reach into a different art.

This year, well-known figures such as Buzz Aldrin, Alicia Silverstone and Amber Tamblyn will share their works with literary audiences. Though all of them are in the public eye in one way or another, their writing is as varied as their own backgrounds. A case in point is Aldrin’s discussion of his book, “Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon,” in comparison to Silverstone’s talk about her book, “The Kind Diet.”

“(Celebrities) understand the quality of the event and enjoy being in front of an audience that’s there for something different from their usual audience. … (The audience) is there to appreciate and watch them do something different,” said Maret Orliss, senior programming manager for the Festival of Books. “It’s like why a lot of people want to be an author; (celebrity authors) have something they are trying to say, and they feel that writing it on the page is the best way to express it.”

Though at first it may seem like having celebrity status would be an easy way in to success as an author, it also has the potential to cause some problems for famous people trying to break into writing. The very nature of the entertainment industry can make many people skeptical of a celebrity’s sincerity in authoring a book.

“Hollywood has always had faked interviews and had books written by ghosts and agents,” said Jascha Kessler, professor of English. “Most performers … play music written by others and sing words written by others, and actors memorize words written by writers.”

False authorship may not always be the case, however. Tamblyn, an actress, has found poetry to be a way of taking the control over the industry’s image out of the hands of Hollywood and into her own.

“With acting, it’s only really 50 percent yours. You put in the best work you can do, but once you’ve done that, it’s out of your control. It depends on what the director does and what the editor does and what the publicity department does, … and so on. You have no control after that point,” Tamblyn said. “With writing, it’s 100 percent yours. You get to own it; you get to create exactly what you want to create. No one else’s hands are in it.”

Tamblyn, who said she had her first poem published at the age of 12, will be doing a vaudevillian performance of selections from her second book of poetry, “Bang Ditto,” at the festival on Saturday. Since her first publishing, the now 26-year-old star of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” has been able to combine her acting experiences with her writing to create a more realistic picture of her life as a woman in Hollywood.

“I’m always very intrigued by how people can come (to Los Angeles) and become so lost, and why Los Angeles more than any other city is so particularly like that. Los Angeles to me is such a great creator of arts,” Tamblyn said. “As a woman, you go through different phases of your life, and God only knows how I’m going to feel about this world and this lifestyle at the age of 40. … For right now, this is where I am and who I am.”

Because her poetry is not mediated by others, Tamblyn has had the freedom to tell her side of the story in a way that can be interpreted differently by people in all walks of life, making the messages she sends more resonant with her readers.

“I really get to write about a lot of isolating feelings I have as an actress, and a lot of my poems are about that ““ about feeling misunderstood and wanting to connect with people on an emotional level,” Tamblyn said.

“I hope that I’m able to give a sincerity to my life and to my perceived life to people through my poetry.”

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Katie Meschke
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